Little can be seen in the light of the moon, in the light of the sun – nothing can be seen.

“Phantoms”

Apart from city lights, evening and dusk are characterised by incredible colours. It appears that darkness as such has multiple varieties and as far as nature is concerned, it never occurs in its full. There always remains a certain clearance left. Eyesight easily accustoms to darkness. It observes and absorbs. It elicits more and more new elements. Suddenly, there is much more happening in the dark than we could ever imagine.
Turning on a flashlight can destroy all this. The light blinds, encroaches and paradoxically, beclouds the image. The only thing that can be seen is the site where the stream of light is directed, and the rest is covered in darkness. The question is what we really want to see – the place where the light falls or the thing that we can find next to the light?
The light of the lighthouse does not enlighten at all. It indicates – the lighthouse, its source, and the legendary route home. It illuminates for a moment and then moves on. We will see nothing in this light.
“Phantoms” by Iza Zdziebko create a similar game of lights; it is in fact a landscape photography, yet frantically personal and creative. Certain elements of the landscape were chosen, indicated, touched. They can be distinguished more easily, we permanently see the context, and everything that can be found around, the background and the scenery do not fall into non-existence. The landscape does not undergo any changes. There is no additional element, there is no shift. The reflector, almost like on a scene, accentuates and indicates a fragment. As far as “Phantoms” are concerned, there is a certain kind of a double game: photographing means pointing at things, and photography exists solely due to light. Indicating with the use of light guides the viewer from the mood and contemplation of the landscape towards metaphysics, as well as reflection concerning roles and functions that photography plays.
What is also of crucial importance on this scene, is the person of the photographer, who indicates and emits the light. The artist reveals how the series came into life: “I used the light from the headlamp together with a long shutter release cable, which enabled quite unrestrained “steering” of my own body towards the landscape and made it possible to elicit various forms from the landscape, forms friendly to my eyes. The thing that appeared in front of my eyes at the moment of making the image, is a type of delusion (phantom)”. Perception and observation stand as truly physical activities; Zdziebko elicits and recalls these notions. The place where the artist found herself, the place where she looks – it all creates a particular frame. It is a very corporal and physically conditioned photography. Indicating things, directing the light – vision are nothing more than metaphors. Things we discover in this light and in these photographs evoke the feeling of apprehension, delusion. There is nothing you can be certain of, but it is worth to adjust your eyes and look for meanings.